On any given weekend from April-December we happily wake up at 3:30am on Saturday to check the marine forecast to determine if we should get out of bed at 4am to drive 50 miles to get to the boat at 5am, (Me, [not "happily"] too. Except getting up is no option; I have to show up at the boat to avoid losing my trip fee even if the trip is scrubbed. MY drive is more like 70+ miles if going to the Brielle area, 50 to Barnegat, where the Gypsy used to be.) picking up food, soft-drinks and ice on the way, so we can spend an hour getting the boat set up by 6am so that when you get there at 7am we can help you load your two sets of steel doubles, both your deco bottles, your giant tote box of gear, your wet/dry suit and two other bags of stuff on the boat so we can leave by 8am, securing your gear so it doesn't go in the drink, (When arriving 45-60 minutes before the scheduled departure I sometimes have to wait for the crew to arrive or to "open" the boat. Then I load and secure MY gear as do most other Jersey divers. And we paying pax also lend a hand with the other paying pax's gear when it's occasionally needed, like for the late arrival.) so we can get you to the wreck by 9am, spending the last half hour of the ride in the sweltering heat fully-geared up in a drysuit (As you get more experience you'll be better able to judge how long getting geared up takes and time yourself accordingly.), fighting back our own seasickness (With time, this too will pass, for most people.) so we're ready to jump into the 55F water as soon as the captain says "GO" so we can rocket down 130 or so, solo, in the dark (Is this the same dark I'll be in?), fighting current (Same current, too?), while dragging 50lbs of shot/chain, and in low viz locate the safest spot to tie in to the wreck and set a strobe for you, as quickly as possible so you don't have to sit in the sweltering heat, fully geared-up, puking all over yourself. (I've helped set that hook a couple of times, and TIED IT IN AS WELL, when the boat actually required buddy diving and I got paired with a "DM." Setting the strobe shouldn't be too difficult. [If I remember I'll bring mine to the Gypsy next time I dive her and show you how simple it is.] And, just like every other diver, start gearing up when the cap says its time to, and sit around in the sweltering heat waiting for the set hook signal. BTW, that water is the same temperature for me as it is for you.) After potentially burning half our back-gas doing that, were often getting back up and out of the water while many passengers are still getting geared up. (After you get more experience your air consumption will decrease.) And while youre doing your first dive we're hurrying out of our gear so we can hose down your puke (not MY puke), hang your gear line, straighten the boat up and put lunch and soft-drinks together (? - they used to just throw the subs in the fridge/cooler with the sodas) so that when you come up from your dive we can take your spear-gun/camera/catch bag, unclip your deco bottle, and safely get you and a dozen other divers in steel doubles out of the water, remove your fins, get you over to your seats, tanks bungied in, out of your gear, (If I'm one of the first divers back up I'll be helping you too. Just like any other diver who's already back on board.) stow your deco bottles, put your catch into the game cooler, serve lunch (things may have changed on the Gypsy since '05-they didn't "serve" lunch then), and do whatever else we can to make sure everyone is having a good time. During the surface interval well help folks switch over their tanks if they want (DON'T TOUCH! This probably goes for most Jersey divers.), provide an o-ring to a passenger who needs one (I bring extras and have given them to pax)), pull an extra mask strap out of our own sav-a-dive kit (I bring extras and have given them to pax) for another diver, and maybe lend an extra layer of drysuit undies (never did that) to the diver that was really cold on the first dive. Over lunch we'll tell everyone where to find the 5lb lobster (standard SI talk) we didnt have time to nab because we blew through 1,800psi (After you get more experience your air consumption will decrease.) on the tie in or maybe one of us will pull out a binder of deck plans to show you how to get into the best spot to find artifacts on a wreck sunk by a WWI or WWII U-boat. (Yeah, Jersey divers are known for their willingness to share good loot spots with strangers.) When everyones ready, we help get all the divers geared up again, pointing out un-connected drysuit inflator hoses (You'll find if you don't try to rush a diver most will complete their suiting up in their normal orderly manner. Just stand back and observe. Make "suggestions" only after the diver has completed his and overlooked something.), dunking masks in the rinse bucket (not mine), and getting everyone back in the water for dive number two. While everyone's under, we straighten the boat up and then sit around for an hour, wishing we were doing a second dive. (We often get to pass the time by unclogging one or both heads, cleaning the macerators, and putting them back together.) When divers start coming up we help everyone back out of the water, get out of their gear, and stow more lobsters/fish while one of us quickly gears-up to do a solo bounce-dive to 130ft, untie quickly, do a free ascent down current in the open ocean 20mi from shore while waiting for the 50' boat to do a live pick up while slamming up and down in 3-5's (the same 3-5's I was in?). (Depending on the charter and the needs of the passengers the crew member who unties is either the lucky one who gets to do TWO dives that day or the unlucky one for whom this is their ONLY dive of the day.) Out of the water and quickly get out of our gear so we can pull up 160 of line, by hand (that is a buster; ALL boats should have a winch!), including 50lbs of shot/chain, get everything stowed, and get underway, so we can get you back to the dock quickly (while helping folks shuck scallops (THAT is worth a couple of bucks) and/or drag mussels on the way back in) so we can help you get your two sets of steel doubles, both deco bottles, giant tote box of gear and two other bags of stuff off the boat and into your car (Never seen that. INTO MY CAR. Wow! I'll have to put the Gypsy at the top of '08's to do list.) so you can leave to get home early while we spend another hour and a half cleaning up puke, fish guts, sediment, soda cans, lunch leftovers and other general grit and grime, re-fuel, close the boat up, and drive 50 miles home, typically making an extra stop by one dive shop or another to drop off the lost-and-found items passengers inevitably have left behind so they dont have to drive 100 miles (140+ miles in my case. But wait, I don't leave stuff behind since I carry all my own gear and know what I brought with me and what I'm returning home with.) back and forth to the boat during the week to retrieve them. If there's no traffic (there always is in the summer (we know, we drive on the same roads) we can get home around 6pm, having spent $20 on gas/tolls (more like $25 for me in addition to the $30+ for air and the $85-$100 for the charter) and another $20 on tank fills, and having told the passenger we gave our own replacement mask strap to not to worry about it. After rinsing our gear and deciding whether to try to wash the puke and diesel out of our favorite t-shirt from Cozumel or just throw it away, we get to have dinner and go to bed early so we can get up at 3:30am on Sunday and do it all over again. (Does the Gypsy seem to attract an inordinate amount of diarheics, pukers, fish guts and diesel spills?)
A heartfelt thanks with a smile and handshake with or without a few bucks says Dude, I really appreciate what you do!" (I hope the Gypsy owner heartfeelingly smiles at you and shakes your hand and, without a few bucks says, Dude, I REALLY appreciate what you do!)
Slinking off with no acknowledgement whatsoever financial or otherwise says F--- you, you get to dive for free! (I doubt the owner says that, at least as far as you know.)
, not for the non-service-oriented
, money grubbing
